Andrew Cuomo
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| Andrew M. Cuomo | |
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| In office 2007 – incumbent |
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| Preceded by | Eliot Spitzer |
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| Succeeded by | incumbent |
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| In office January 29, 1997 – January 20, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Cisneros |
| Succeeded by | Mel Martinez |
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| Born | December 6, 1957 New York City |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Andrew Mark Cuomo (born December 6, 1957, in New York City) is the New York State Attorney General, having been elected to that office on November 7, 2006. Previously Cuomo was the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2001.
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[edit] Background and early career
Cuomo is the elder son of former New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo and the older brother of ABC News journalist Chris Cuomo. Andrew and his ex-wife, Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, have three daughters. The couple announced their less-than-amicable separation (including published rumors of Kennedy's infidelity) in 2003 and have subsequently divorced.
He attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, NY, graduating in 1975. He then attended Fordham University and Albany Law School. He was a top aide to his father during his father's 1982 campaign for governor. He then joined the governor's staff as one of his father's top policy advisors, a position he filled on and off during his father's 12-year governorship. Cuomo became active in issues effecting the homeless and housing policy in New York during the 1980s and 1990s. He founded a non-profit organization focused on homeless and housing issues, Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged, or HELP.
During the administration of former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Cuomo served as Chairman of the New York City Homeless Commission, which was charged with developing policies to end the homeless crisis in the city and to develop more housing options.
[edit] Clinton Cabinet position
Cuomo was appointed to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1993, as a member of President Bill Clinton's administration. After the departure of Secretary Henry Cisneros at the end of Clinton's first term under a cloud of an FBI investigation, Cuomo succeeded him as HUD Secretary in 1997, serving until 2001 when Clinton's administration ended. In 1998, Cuomo's lauded work in the department garnered speculation that he could challenge Senator Al D'Amato but he ultimately declined, saying that he had more things to revamp in the Department.
[edit] New York Gubernatorial campaign
In 2002, Cuomo ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the Governor of New York. His running mate was Charles King. Though rival Carl McCall was the favorite of the Democratic establishment, Cuomo initially had more momentum and led in fundraising and polls. A turning point in the campaign was on April 17, 2002, when Cuomo said "Pataki stood behind the leader. He held the leader's coat. He was a great assistant to the leader. But he was not a leader. Cream rises to the top, and Rudy Giuliani rose to the top." The remarks were widely derided, and even his father Mario later admitted it was a mistake. [1]
On the eve of the state convention, he withdrew from its consideration when he concluded that he had little chance of its support as opposed to the favored party candidate, H. Carl McCall, the-then State Comptroller[2]. Later, in September 2002, on the all-but-certain defeat that loomed in the state primary, again at the hands of McCall, Cuomo withdrew from the race, but his name remained on the ballot, as it did in the general election, as the Liberal party candidate. In the primary, the withdrawn candidate only received 14% of the vote. And then in the general election, he received about 16,000 votes, out of 2.2 million cast, handing a costly defeat to the Liberal Party, which thereby lost its automatic spot on the New York ballot. McCall, who ran a poor campaign and failed to resonate with voters, was defeated in a landslide by Governor George Pataki.
[edit] Campaign for New York Attorney General
- Further information: New York attorney general election, 2006
Some expected him to run for Governor of New York again, as a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2006, but Cuomo decided against a run when New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer entered the race in late 2004. Cuomo declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for New York State Attorney General in 2006, and on May 30, 2006, captured the Democratic Party's endorsement, receiving 65 percent of the delegates' votes. Though Cuomo won the endorsement, former New York City Public Advocate Mark J. Green, Charlie King, a two-time candidate for lieutenant governor, and Sean Patrick Maloney, a former aide to President Clinton, also earned places on the Democratic primary election ballot. [3] King dropped out of the race before the primary and endorsed Cuomo. [4]
Cuomo won the primary with a majority of the vote, defeating his nearest opponent by over 20%. He won the general election against the Republican nominee, former Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro on November 7, 2006, winning 58%-40%, the closest statewide race that year. Cuomo won New York City in a landslide, and did quite well upstate, defeating Pirro in the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany areas, as well as in Westchester and Rockland counties. Cuomo only narrowly defeated Pirro on Long Island.
[edit] Controversy
Cuomo has had his share of controversy. The most innocuous of these pertained to his gun control and anti-hate speech activities while Secretary of HUD which caused alarm among First and Second Amendment activists.
Criticism was much more heated, however, in a series of lawsuits and investigations surrounding a Florida based S&L institution in which he was accused of illegal, hostile take-over maneuvers among other things. This problem tapered off after Attorney General Janet Reno declined to initiate a full investigation.[5] A spectrum of excuses and accusations were offered to explain this situation.
In tandem with this last situation is the extremely sharp and heavily documented criticism coming from Catherine Fitts, former HUD Assistant Secretary and FHA Administrator under Jack Kemp and HUD independent contractor under Henry Cisneros and Andrew Cuomo. She, basically, accuses him of fraud and links his name to HUD vendors who also provided him with lucrative benefits of various types.[6][7]
On a personal note, some people were agitated by the remarks he made about Kerry Kennedy Cuomo when their marriage broke up after his political defeat by H. Carl McCall.
[edit] External links
- New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo official state site
- Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General official campaign site
- Follow the Money - Andrew Cuomo 2006 campaign contributions
- New York Times - Topics: Andrew M. Cuomo collected news stories and commentary
| Attorneys General of New York |  |
|---|---|
| Benson • Varick • Burr • Lewis • Lawrence • J. Hoffman • Spencer • Woodworth • Hildreth • Emmett • Van Vechten • M. Van Buren • Oakley • Talcott • Bronson • Beardsley • Hall • Barker • J. Van Buren • Jordan • Chatfield • Stow • O. Hoffman • Cushing • Tremain • Myers • Dickinson • Cochrane • Martindale • Barlow • Pratt • Fairchild • Schoonmaker • Ward • Russell • O'Brien • Tabor • Rosendale • Hancock • Davies • Cunneen • Mayer • Jackson • O'Malley • Carmody • Parsons • Woodbury • Lewis • Newton • Sherman • Ottinger • Ward • Bennett • Goldstein • Javits • Lefkowitz • Abrams • Koppell • Vacco • Spitzer • Cuomo |
| United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development |  |
|---|---|
| Weaver • Wood • Romney • Lynn • Hills • Harris • Landrieu • Pierce • Kemp • Cisneros • Cuomo • Martinez • Jackson |
| Preceded by Henry Cisneros |
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1997 – 2001 |
Succeeded by Mel Martinez |
| Preceded by Betsy McCaughey Ross |
Liberal Party Nominee for Governor of New York 2002 |
Succeeded by Eliot Spitzer |
| Preceded by Eliot Spitzer |
New York State Attorney General 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
